There’s an ongoing discussion about the constant spread of fake news across the various media channels: Facebook, Google, Twitter and other known publications. The buzz around this new kind of yellow journalism is inevitable, and unfortunate to the majority of writers who are proud, and take seriously their duty to deliver the most honest information to their readers. Fake news can be defined as news articles that are intentionally false and misleading. Recently, the fake news epidemic has grown in scale and message, especially with stories related to politics or the US presidential election coverage.

Writers who cover scandalous or provocative stories walk a very thin line between being labeled as yellow press and being put into the category of investigative journalism. PUBLIQ is the company that wants to bring stability to content distribution by empowering its members, journalists, authors, bloggers, and more, to write the most authentic, factual stories. The nonprofit foundation has created a platform where readers can discover only honest content, devoid of fake news and salacious headlines. The content that is distributed across the platform will obtain factual pieces, guaranteed because of PUBLIQ’s unique rewarding process and the blockchain technology the platform was built on.

PUBLIQ’s blockchain model differs from any other platform built on Bitcoin and Ethereum protocols. The blockchain creates an open and borderless neutral system, where the power is established by its members not by intermediaries. Any interference toward the credibility of the content is carefully monitored by the community, who can raise flags if the content seems unreliable. Once an article is posted on PUBLIQ, the content gets cryptographically sealed and distributed to the community, offering quality and authenticity. The PUBLIQ ecosystem is governed by quality and authenticity, not biased and misleading headlines.

The platform operates using a unique rewarding system, called a “PUBLIQ score”, by which writers get rewarded based on the engagement their work has earned. The reward process is completed using the PBQ token: the in-house currency that was developed as a utility value for transactions on the platform. The PBQ token helps to incentivize honest reporting, and devalues biased content. The ICO for the PBQ token started on November 15th and will last a month, closing on December 15th. The company’s “crowdfunding” process attracts authors and advertisers to be a part of the future of media while also reaping the financial benefits offered.

PUBLIQ also integrates artificial intelligence in its efforts to achieve more targeted content promotion. It assures advertisers that their ads will be placed next to authentic pieces, and that only good quality content will be promoted. The AI algorithms provide an advertisement placement mechanism based on readers’ preferences, but also on the nature of the articles (topics, industries etc.). It helps to determine which ad might interest which readers and channels more than others, based on the activity on the platform.

While PUBLIQ is very ambitious in its intention to offer an alternative to major news providers, it’s hard to not be a little skeptical regarding the efficiency of such a “reward” process for content creators. First of all, blockchain is still an intimidating term, and many are either scared off or just don’t understand it. Trying to attract journalists and writers who have been in their field of expertise for years will be difficult, but the idea behind PUBLIQ’s platform is laudable, and I’ll be watching closely to see where this technology goes.